The Applied Fitness Lab At California State University

The teachers of today are seemingly focused on teaching that they forget to find time for physical activity. The stress faced by many teachers has led them to make more time for work. This could lead to negative impact on their physical health. Teachers need to be more active to improve their physical health. A closer look at this research will provide insight into this issue.

Cardiovascular and metabolic diseases are a growing problem around the world today. Not only do diseases such as diabetes and heart disease affect individuals and their lifestyles, they also affect the economy, politics, education and the professional work environment. 20-26% of individuals in the United States live with heart disease, and obesity and high blood pressure compose the greatest factors for developing this disease [20]. Studies have shown a direct correlation between the amount of sedentary time and cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk, regardless of baseline measurements [20]. Thus, increase in physical activity will decrease cardiometabolic risk factors [8]. Several studies indicate a positive correlation between physical activity and decreased cardiometabolic risk markers [2,4,11,16]. However, we now know that an individual who is getting the recommended physical activity per day can still have a large amount of sedentary time.

In this lab, the focus was to study muscular fitness. In muscular fitness, there are two main components of measurements that are being taken, which are muscular strength and muscular endurance. Muscular strength is an individual’s ability to exert their maximum force. To test muscular strength, there are multiple tests such as 1 RM , Static Handgrip Strength, and Back Strength Dynamometer test. Muscular endurance is an individual’s ability to sustain prolonged muscular contractions. Tests that reveal results about an individual’s muscular endurance would be tests such as YMCA Submaximal Bench Press, Push-Up, and Plank test. It is important to remember that there is no single test for endurance and strength that will tell an

I observed two different unique professions relating to the exercise science field over the course of the Fall 2015 semester as required by the Introduction to Exercise Science course offered here at SIUE. I picked professions that interested me, and based it on if I could see myself going into it after graduation from this program.

Obesity is one of the biggest problems many Americans face today. America is one of the richest nations in the world, but also becoming one of the heaviest (some might disagree). The more money we Americans make, the busier we are, the less likely we are to find time to exercise and take care of our bodies. We fail to understand that exercising is as crucial to an individual’s health, as working is to making money. The more we work, the less time we have to stay fit or get in shape. Instead of working out, many Americans sit in front of the computer, go out to eat, or simply play video games for hours on the television. Technology is advancing, causing Americans to come up with more excuses not exercise.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines physical activity as body movements that result in energy expenditure. In a recent finding around the world, people of all ages have not been meeting the recommended amount of physical activity which has led to the rise of many chronic illnesses, cardiovascular diseases, and other physical problems. With the increase in diseases related to the lack of physical activity, many studies have tried to pinpoint the best method of intervention to help participants become active and healthy. From several sources and studies, researchers have found that participants who engage in group-based fitness activities lead by an instructor gain both physical benefits such as reduced risk of illness and disease, a reduced risk of injuries and, it includes mental health benefits such as increased self-image. The American College of Sports Medicine has cited

Also, I incorporate in my lesson a variety of strategies to be able to reach all diverse students. Many of my students come from different cultures and speak many different languages. To be able to ensure understanding I need to access background knowledge, use visuals, demonstration, model, etc. One of the strategies used for the students to understand flexibility it was accessing prior knowledge and critical thinking when I ask them to compare their muscles to rubber band or elastic bands. Another strategy I used is group leaders to lead the warm-ups. This strategy increase their motivation and the students are more engaged in the activity. To improve the aerobic capacity I include running activities and games in the daily routines. Also, I used a research based strategy to improve motivation while running the mile. The purpose of the research was to demonstrate that checking heart rate helps the students to improve their time because it works as a motivational tool. Deal and Deal (1995) explain how measurable outcomes using heart rate telemetry can be an effective tool to improve and measure physical activity, which translates into better results on the physical fitness test (p. 31). Another strategy that I use for the aerobic component of fitness is instant self-assessment and feedback. Students have a card where they record their time each time they run the mile. Every time the run they set a goal for that day. After they run they record the time and have their past times to compare with the past miles. They write a short sentence to explain the reasons they improved or did not improve that

At the University of Hawaii gym students walk in and out of the big and tall structure at around 3:30 to 4:00 pm in the afternoon. As the seconds go by I see the UH student’s expression, movement, mood, and intensity as they exercise. Ranging from the basketball court where students are running up and down the court, talking, jumping, shooting, and making eye contact to their teammates. As the students perform resistance exercises (weight lifting), I see various individuals taking deep rhythmic breathes with their chin up, making sure their is back always straight as sweat forms on their face and veins pop out of their neck, while performing slow and steady movements that work on one muscle group at a time. Cardio exercises (running on treadmill or track, stair-master) requires whole body movement as it pushes the heart to beat faster and faster to built up an individual’s endurance and fatigue resistance, resulting in the most sweat dripping down a persons face while bending over with hands on their hip, and heavy breathing.

I am a graduate of Bacone College holding a Bachelors degree in Exercise Science. Although I see exercise as an aspect of our daily lives, fitness is a conscious effort; and like anything worth having or goal worth achieving, the mindset to initiate, cultivate and sustain must be created first. I believe that we are able to shape our realities to our likings but first we must shape our minds, and that process is synonymous with shaping our body.

It’s very important to keep the body healthy and functioning. Over the years, people of all ages have changed their lifestyle. They moved from keeping their body in a healthy shape, to just not caring. When adults are getting off of work, they are not spending enough time doing a physical activity or exercising like they should. In the article, Obesity in America: What’s Driving the Epidemic,” over the decades, the fraction of Americans who say they meet national guidelines for leisure-time exercise has remained stable at 25%—but objective measurements suggest the actual percentage of adults who get enough exercise is closer to 5%” (Harvard Men’s Health watch). When an individual has a desk job, their body needs the physical activity on a daily basis to keep the body healthy. A decrease in physical movement at work, will not lead to obesity. It’s the lack of exercise when they get home. The average weight of an individual is more because we sit and eat

Health, wellness, and fitness are affected by many factors, some of which we have learned we can control and others that offer us little or no control (Corbin, Welk, Corbin, & Welk, 2016). The environment is influential factors regarding our health, whether that be the physical, spiritual, emotional, social, or intellectual environment. One strategy that I can use to improve my physical environment is to force myself get up from my desk throughout the day and commit to a physical activity program.

Fitness regimes in the workplace should be designed to appeal to staff irrespective of age, gender, or level of fitness. (4)

Plato once said, “In order for man to succeed in life, God provided him with two means, education and physical activity. Not separately, one for the soul and the other for the body, but for the two together. With these two means, man can attain perfection.” If we delve into this quote we can see that even 2400 years ago in ancient Greece a famous philosopher linked physical activity with education and that the two are not mutually exclusive. A study presented to the American College of Sports Medicine, for instance, found that workers who spent 30 to 60 minutes at lunch exercising reported an average performance boost of 15 percent. There are many studies that show adult work productivity with the encouragement of exercise in the work place, where the lack of research lies is in the younger populations. One area that needs to be addressed deeper is the effect of physical activity on cognitive functioning across the school age spectrum along with the productivity of adults who exercise regularly or are encouraged to exercise in the work place.

Fitness programs in a workplace are very effective since with exercise the employees are less likely to become sick. It has been established that individuals who are physically fit are more resistant to diseases associated with poor health lifestyles. A workforce which falls sick less often will always be at work and thus will increase on the productivity of the business (Bird et al. 20). Through regular exercise the employees will be able to sustain and increase their energy throughout the day. The revived energy will enable them to stay focused on the operations of the company as they try to bring the best out of themselves. Allowing the employees to exercise in the workplace is very mandatory because it will help them to develop self-confidence. Individuals who exercise regularly are able to become physically fit and this boosts their confidence and self-esteem (Kerr, Griffiths and Cox

From the mid 1980’s to present, the wealth of technology and automation has began to take a toll on public health the work and home environments are inundated with technologies that require little to no physical activity such as long commutes, the use of personal computers, television and video games. Today more people work in offices, have longer work hours and are physically inactive. This new environment produces unhealthy and non functional people and increased incidence of injury. Past mandatory activities such as physically educated ar being cut from schools, consequently people are less active and are no longer spending as much of their free time engaged in physical activity. In 1985 the international obesity task force deemed the presidence of obesity an epidemic. Today approx one third of adults are estimated to be obese, this carries over to the adolescent population with 18 percent of adulenance and teenagers considered overweight. When working with todays typical client and athletes health and fitness professionals must take special consideration when designing exercise programmes. An integrated approach should be used to create a safe programme that consider the functional capacity for each individual person. They must address factor such as; appropriate forms of flexibility, increasing strength a neuromuscular control and training in different types of environments. These are the bases for using corrective exercise and the Nasm’s corrective exercise